Seam for sewed articles



June 24, 1930. J LE VESCONTE 1,767,990

Filed April 8,- 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet -1 I h V June 24, 1930.

Patented June 24, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIcE HAROLD J. LE VESCONTE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB, TO UNION SPECIAL! MACHINE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS SEAM FOR SEWED ARTICLES Application filed April 8, 1927. Serial No. 182,056.

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in seams for sewed articles, and more particularly to a seam for uniting fabric sections, wherein the stitches-on one face of the finished article are concealed from view.

An object of the invention is to provide a seam wherein the edge portions of the fabric sections are united by thread loops which pass through the edge portions placed face to face and into and out of one only of the fabric sections, so thatwhen the seam is put under lateral strain, the edge portions will be drawn together by the strain on the thread loops. A further object of the inventlon 1s to provide a seam of the above type wherein there are two series of thread loops, one series passing through the edge portions placed face to face, and into and out of one only of the fabric sections back from the edge portions thereof, whilethe other series of loops pass through the edge portions placed face to face and into and out of the other fabrlc section back from the edge thereof;

A still further object of the invention is to provide a seam of the above type wherein the loops passing through and into and out of the fabricsections are secured by loops laid over the edge of the fabric sections and covering the same.

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part. be hereinafter more fully disclosed.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a plan view showing diagrammaticall'y and on an enlarged scale, the con- 'struction of my improved seam;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View on the-line 22 are Fig. 3 is a detail in section showing the manner of inserting one of the loops in one of the series of holding stitches;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing the manner of inserting one of the loops in the other series of holding stitches;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Figures 3 and 4, but showing a modified arrangement of inserting the thread loops, and I Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing the thread loops formed by the arrangement shown in Fig. 3.

The invention is directed to a seam for sewed articles, and more particularlyt'o a seam which is generally known as a flat seam for joining fabric sections, and wherein the threads which join the fabric sections are substantially concealed from view on one face of the fabric. The seam includes a series of thread loops which pass through the edge portions of the fabric sections which-are placed face to face, and into and out of one only of the fabric sections back from the edge portions thereof. If the fabric is of sufiicient thickness, the needle which passes into and out of the fabric section on the same face thereof, will not go all the way through the. fabric, so that the stitches will be concealed. This series of thread loops is locked or secured by a series of thread loops which pass over the edge of the fabric sections, and are joined to the first-named loops of the series. I prefer to use a second series of enchained thread loops which pass through the edge portions arranged face to face, and

into and out'of the other fabric section on the same face thereof, and this series of thread loops is preferably secured by thread loops which pass over the edges of the fabric sec tions and are j oined, to the thread loops in the second series. Y I

Referring more in detail to the drawings, I have shown two fabric sections A and B which have their edge portions a and b placed face to face. The fabric section B is bent or crimped at b so that the needle 1 -may pass through the edge portionsa and 5 where they are placed face to face, and then into and out of the crimped portions Z) of the fabric section B. The needlemay be a straight needle or it may be a curved needle. Instead of passing the needle first through the edge portions a and b, it may be moved first through the crimpe-d portions'b'and then through the edge portions a and 'b. The machine includes two needles, one working in front of the other. The two needles make independent concatenation of threads. In Fig. 8, I. have shown the second needle2 as entering the crin ped portion a of the fabric section A, and thenthe edge portions a, Z). It will be noted that both needles 1 and 2 pass through the edge portions, but only into and out of one fabric section back from the edge portions. A looper cooperates with the needle in forming thread loops which lie over the edge portions and cover the same. For example, in Fig. 4, the looper Would pass a thread loop through the needle thread loop as it emerges from the crimped portion Z), and the looper thread loop is then carried over the crimped portion and the edge portions a and b and placed for the needle to enter the same on its next reciprocation.

The resulting seam is shown in Figures 1 and 2. The direction of feed is indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1. The thread of the needle 2 is formed into a series of thread loops 3. This thread loop is passed into and out of the fabric section A, and thence through the edge portions where they are placed face to face. The looper thread loop 4 is passed through the needle thread loop 3 after it emerges from the edge portions a, b, and this looper thread loop is carried over the edges of the fabric section and over the crimped portion a of the fabric section A, and placed so that the next loop 3 formed in the thread of the needle 1 will enter the looper thread loop before it enters the fabric section. This completes a concatenation of the stitches formed by the needle 2. The needle thread loops of the needle 1 are indicated at 5. These needle thread loops are passed first through the edge portions where they are placed face to face, and thence into and out of the crimped portion I) of the fabric section B. These thread loops are locked by looper thread loops indicated at 6. The looper thread loop passes through the thread loop 5 after it emerges from the crimped portion 72, and then said looper thread loop is carried across the edges of the portions a, b, and placed so that the next formed loop in the thread of the needle 1 will first enter the looper thread 6 and then pass into the edge portions of the fabric sections. This completes the enchainment of the second series of thread loops.

It will be apparent from the above that I have provided two independent series of concatenated thread loops, and that the needle thread loops of these series both pass through the edge portions where they are placed face to face, and into and out of only one fabric section back from the edge portion. One series of needle loops passes into and out of one fabric section, and the other passes into and out of the other fabric section. When a lateral strain is placed on the seam, the edge portions will be drawn together as the thread loops which are anchored back from the edge portions extend through the edge portions and are anchored on the other side thereof from the point where they are anchored in the fabric sections. This makes a Very strong seam, and one wherein the edge portions can: not gap when the seam is under strain, and furthermore, it provides a seam wherein the edge portions are covered by the stitching threads and wherein the stitching threads are substantially concealed from view onthe face of the fabric opposite the edge covering loops.

In Fig. 5 of the drawings, I have shown a slightly modified form of arrangement of the thread loops. The needle 7 passes through the edge portions of the fabric sections where they are placed face to face, and then through the crimped portion in one fabric section back from the edge portion, while the needle 8 passes through the edge portions where they are placed face to face, and then through a crimped portion of the other fabric section. This makes a slightly different arrangement of the thread loops. The loops of the thread of the needle 7 are indicated at 9 in Fig. 6, while the looper thread loops which interlock the same are indicated at 10. The loops in the thread of the needle 8 are indicated at 11, and the loops in the looper thread which lock the same are indicated at12. By this arrangement of the loops, the needle threads between successive loops lie along the outer faces of the edge portions which are placed face to face. By this arrangement of the thread loops and the needle threads, a lateral strain on the seam will draw the edge portions of the fabric sections even more closely together. They are, in a measure, held together as effectively as where through and through stitches are used. The edges are covered as in the first form of the seam described, and the stitches are likewise concealed.

It is obvious that other arrangements of the thread loops may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters- Patent, isp I 1. A seam for sewed articles comprising fabric sections having their edge portions turned out ofthe plane of the fabric sections and placed face to face, a series of thread loops passing through the edge portions of the fabric sections and into and out of one of said fabric sections only, and a second series of thread loops passing through the edge portions of the fabric sections and into and out of the other fabric section only whereby lateral strain on the seam will draw the edge portions of the fabric sections together.

2. A seam for sewed articles comprising fabric sections having the edge portions thereof turned out of the plane of the fabric sections and placed face to face, and stitching threads for joining the fabric sections to form a flat seam including two series of thread loops all of which penetrate both of the edge portions adjacent the edges thereof, the thread loops of one of said series penetrating one fabric section back from the edge portions thereof and the thread loops of the other series penetrating the other fabric section only back from the edge portion thereof whereby lateral strain on the seam will draw the edge portions of the fabric sections together, and a covering thread associated with each series of thread loops, said covering thread being formed into loops operating to secure the thread loops of the series with which it is associated and overlapping and covering the edges of the fabric sections.

3. A seam for sewed articles comprising fabric sections, a series of thread loops passing through the edge portions of said fabric sections, with said portions placed face to face and into and out of one of said fabric sections only, a second series of thread loops passing through the edge portions of said fabric sections and into and out of the other fabric section only, whereby lateral strain on the seam will draw the edge portions of the fabric sections together, and thread loops passing through the loops in the first series of thread loops where they finally emerge from the fabric sections, over the edges of the fabric sections, and secured by the first series of thread loops before they enter the fabric sections, and other thread loops passing through the second series of thread loops where they emerge from the fabric sections, over the edges and secured by the second series of thread loops before they enter the fabric sections.

4. A seam for sewed articles comp-rising fabric sections having the edge portions thereof turned out of the plane of the fabric sections and placed face to face, a series of thread loops penetrating the edge portions of the fabric sections and also passing into and out of one of the fabric sections only, and a second series of thread loops penes trating the edge portions of the fabric sections and also passing into and out of the other fabric section.

59A seam for sewed articles comprising fabric sections having the edge portions thereof turned out of the plane of the fabricsections and placed face to face, a series of thread loops associated with each of said fabric sections, the loops of each of said series passing through the edge portions of both fabric sections, and a locking thread for locking the loops of each series.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature.

HAROLD J. LE VESCONTE. 

